The Cohen Connection

The Chairman of the purported corporate Trustee of the fund once known as the Elders IXL Superannuation Fund from 1990 to 2001 was Geoffrey Cohen.

Mr Cohen was also the Chairman of HIH Insurance Ltd from 1992 until it collapsed with a record loss of over $5 billion in 2001.

Owen J heavily criticised Cohen in the HIH Royal Commission Report and APRA then banned Cohen.

Cohen then appealed the banning order to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), however the appeal was deferred whilst criminal charges were pending.

The criminal charges were quietly dropped however the AAT appeal never resumed. However APRA unbanned Cohen and instead granted him an “enforceable undertaking” which expired in September 2015.

Officers of APRA attended proceeding in the Supreme Court of Victoria involving a member-elected Director who Cohen had arranged to be dismissed to prevent him attending his first board meeting of the purported corporate trustee.

The member-elected Director has expressed concern about the administration of the employees’ superannuation fund